Door-locking mechanism



Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

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DOOR LOCKNG MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6. 1922.

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Patented Nov. 23,

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ALBERT E. ZIMMIER, 0F CHICACTG, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TOEETTERPRISE RAILWAY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGQ, ILLINOIF, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

DOOR-LOCKING- runonenrsra.

Application filed March 6, 1822. Serial No. 541,323.

Chica o in the count of Cook and State of {a 7 Illinois have invented acertam new and.

useful Improvement in Door-Locking Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying draw ings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in door locking mechanism.

One object of the invention is to provide a strong, e'h'icient and relatively inexpensive and simple mechanism for holding pivoted doors in closed position, the mecha nism being especially applicable to drop bottom gondola cars.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of the character indicated in the preceding paragraph which may be applied to old cars at comparatively small expense where the old cars are provided with the usual arrangement of needle beams and side wall construction.

In the drawing forming apart of this specification, Fig.1 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of a gondola car showing my improvements in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is a transverse, vertical sectional view of the car illustrated in Fig. 1 and corresponding to the center line 22 thereof. Fig. 3 is a broken transverse vertical sectional view corresponding to the line AndFig. d is a horizontal detail sectional view corresponding substantially to the line 4rd of F ig. 3.

In said drawings, the car is shown as provided with the usual center sill construction preferablyin the form of channels, as indicated at 10, center sill cover plate 11 and transverse pressed needle beams 12 and 13. The slde wall of the car is of the COHIPOSliJQ type comprlsed of planking 14-, dlagonal metal braces 15 and'pressed side stakes 16- 116. The floor ofthe car, in that type shown .in the drawing, is preferablyprovided with four doors, two on each side of the center sill. Only one of such door portions of the car is illustrated. Ordinarily the car will have a longitudinally extending edge board 17, angle iron side sill 18 and cover plates 19 and 20 extending over the outer and inner joints respectively formed between the pivotedfloor door 21 and the fixed portions of the car floor. I

The drop bottom floor door 2l,is pivoted along its. inner edge as by the hinge butts 22 to the center sill construction, said doors being adapted to swing downwardly so as to dump to the side of the car as customary. Each of said doors is preferably formed of heavy shiplapped plank and braced on the under side by a pair of pressed beams or braces 23-23, each of which is of inverted U cross section. At the outer ends the beams 23 are downwardly and outwardly sloped. as indicated at 24, to provide cam or guiding surfaces, as hereinafter .de-

scribed. On the inner side of the deflected ends of the beams 23, are secured castings 25 each of which is formed with a bottom rounded face 26 and inner shoulder 27.

i To hold the door in closed position, I

provide the following arrangement. Each 7 of the needle beams 12 and 13 has secured thereto a bearing bracket 28 each provided with an opening 29 therein to accommodate a removable bushing 30. Rotatably mounted in the bushings 30 are the ends 31 and 32 of the shaft A. As clearfrom an inspection of Fig. 1, the end 32 of the shaft is somewhat longer than the end 31 so that, in mounting the shaft, the end 32 is inserted through the opening of the bearing bracket 28 on the needle beam 12 with the bushing 3O removed. Ubviously, this may be done with the shaft extending; at an angle to the horizontal and the shaft maybe pushed through the opening 29 sufficient for the opposite end of the shaft to clear the needle beam 13, whereupon the end 31 of the shaft may be raised int-o alinement with the opening in the bushing'30 onthe needle beam 13 and the end 31 inserted therethrough. After this, the bushing at the right hand end of the shaft, as used in Figure 1, is seated within the corresponding opening 29 and suitable keys or washers applied to the shaft to hold it against endwise movement.

Intermediate the ends 31 and 32, the shaft A is formed with an elongated crank arm 33 which, when the door is closed and the shaft is in operative position, depends verti cally and engages beneath the castings 25,

the crank arm engaging the bearing surfaces 26 and shoulders 27, as best shown in Figure 2. The surfaces 26 will preferably be struck on a radius the center of which either coincides with the axis of the shaft or is located slightly to the outside thereof, so that there will be no tendency of the shaft to be pushed in an opening direction under load. In closing the door, it will be evident that as the door approaches its closed position, the sloping cam surfaces 24, hereinbefore referred to, will strike the depending crank arm 33 of the shaft and cam it outwardly until it rides over the ends of the beams and drops automatically under said castings 25. In this connection it will be understood that the axis of the shaft A is below the floor level, within the outside plane of the sidewall of the car and slightly outside of the free edge of the door, as clear- Iy shown in Figure 2.

To operate the shaft A, I provide a casting B having a hub 34 applied at one end of the shaft, said casting'B being formed also with an operating lever 35 normally extended downwardly and vertically, as shown in Figure 3, when the door is in closed position. From the hub 34 is extended also substantially radially a heavy lug 36 having its outer end curved as indicated at 37 and adapted to cooperate with a locking cam 38. The latter is pivotally mounted on a horizontally and longitudinally extended bolt 39 carried by a heavy boss 40 formed integrally with a bracket casting 4L1 riveted to one flange of the adjacent side stake 16, as shown best in Figures 1 and 4:. It is clear from the foregoing description, considered in connection with the drawings, the locking cam is pivotally supported at a point outside of the plane of the side wall of the car so as to render'it easily accessible, while at the same time it is so locatedas to avoidincreasing the over-all width of the car.

To release the door, the locking cam 38 is knocked out of engagement with the lug 36 and then the handle 35 is pulled outwardly so as to disengage the crank arm 33 of'the shaft from beneath the shouldered supports on the door.

From the preceding description, it will be seen that my arrangement consists of few parts of simple and economical design and that the arrangement is equally adaptable to both new and old cars having the usual underframe construction.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out the invention, but the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a locking mechanism for a pivotel door arranged to swing between two frame members extending transverse to the pivotal axis of the door, the combination with a shaft journaled in said members adjacent the free edge of the door to rotate about an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of'the door, said axis being located beyond the free edge of the door when the latter is in closed position and said shaft having a crank arm therein located intermediate said members; of a bearing shoulder on the door at its free edge adapted to rest upon said crank arm of the shaft when the door is in closed position and the crank arm is in a dependent position; and means for rotating said shaft.

2. In a locking mechanism for a pivoted door arranged to swing between two frame members extending transverse tothe pivotal axis of the door, the combination with L; shaft journaled in said members adjacent the free edge of the door to rotate about anaxis parallel to the pivotal axis of-the door, said axis being located beyond the free edge of the door when the latter isin closed position and said shaft having a crank arm therein located intermediate said members; of a bearing shoulder on the door at its free edge adapted to rest upon said crank arm of the shaft when the door is in closed position and the crank arm is in a dependent position; and means at one end of the shaft at that side of one of said members away from the door, for rotating said shaft.

3. In a locking mechanism for a pivoted. door arranged to swing between two frame members extending transverseto the pivotal axis of the door, the combination with a shaft journaled in said members adjacent the free edge of the door to rotate about an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of thedoor said axis bein located be ond the free edge of the door when the latter is in closed position and said shaft havmgan elongated crank arm therein located intermediate said members; of a pair of spaced shouldered elements on the door located along its free edge adapted to rest upon said crank arm of the shaft at spaced points therealong when the door is in closed position; an

means for rotating said shaft.

4. In a locking mechanism for a pivoted door arranged to swing between twoframe members extending transverse to the pivotal. axis ofthedoor, the combination with a shaft journaled in said members adjacent the free edge of the door to rotate about an axis parallel to the pivotal axisof the door, said shaft having a crank arm included thereinlocated intermediate said members; of an element secured to the door at the free edge and having adownwardly and out wardly sloping top faceuand a bearing surface at the bottom, the former being adapted to cam the shaft away from the door during movement of the latter to closed position; and means for rotating said shaft."

5. In a locking mechanism for a pivoted door arranged to swing between two frame members extending transverse to the pivotal axis of the door, the combination with a shaft journaled in said members adjacent the free edge of the door to rotate about an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of the door, said shaft having an elongated crank arm therein disposed between said members; of a pair of elements secured to the bottom of the door at the free edge thereof and each provided with a top face extending downwardly and outwardly and adapted to cam the crank arm of the shaft away from the door when the latter is being moved to closed position, each of said elements hav ing also a bottom bearing shoulder to rest upon the shaft when the door is in closed postion; and means for rotating said shaft.

6. In a dump car having a side dumping pivoted floor door, the combination with a shaft for supporting the door, said shaft being located below the floor level and supported from the cross members of the car underframe; of a hand operating lever secured to said shaft and provided. with a radially extending shoulder; and a cam lock cooperable with said shoulder, said cam lock being supported from a side stake of the car.

7. In a dump car having a side wall and. pivoted side dumping floor door, the combination with a shaft for the door extending longitudinally of the car and supported in cross members thereof to rotate about a fixed axis, said shaft being located below the floor and inside the plane of the side/ wall of the car; of means supported from the side of the car at a point outside of the plane of the side wall thereof for locking said shaft against rotation.

8. In a dump car having a side wall and pivoted side dumping floor door, the combination with a shaft for the door extending longitudinally of the car and supported in cross members thereof, said shaft being located below the floor and inside the plane of the side wall of the car; of means supported from the side of the car at a point outside of the plane of the side wall thereof for locking said shaft against.rotation,said

means comprising a pivoted cam rotatable aboutan axis parallel totlie axis ofithe shaft, the latter being provided with a cooperating section.

iparallelto and adjacent the free J edge of the door, said shaft having a crank arm included therein; of brace beams secured to the under side of the door and provided at their ends with outwardly and downwardly deflected surfaces arranged to cam the crank arm outwardly as the door is elevated to closed position, said brace beams being provided also with hearing shoulders arranged to rest upon the crank arm when thedoor is in closed position; an operating lever secured to said shaft and provided with a radially extended locking shoulder; a casting secured to a side stake; and a locking cam pivotally mounted on said casting cooperable with said shaft projection to hold the shaft in operative position.

10. In. a dump car having a pivoted side dump floor door, the combination with a shaft extending parallel to the pivotal axis of the door and with the axis of the shaft disposed outwardly beyond the free edge of the door, said shaft having a crank arm included therein; of a supporting element extended outwardly beyond the free edge of the door arranged to rest upon said crank arm of the shaft when the crank arm is in a dependent position and the door is in closed position.

11. In a car having a pivoted door, the combination with a supporting shaft for a door extending parallel to the pivotal axis of the door and with the axis of the shaft located beyond the free edge of the door when the latter is in closed position, said shaft having a crank arm included therein; of means rigid with the door and extended beyond the free edge thereof adapted to rest upon the crank arm of the shaft when the crank arm is in a dependent position and the door in closed position; and means to hold said shaft in its operative position.

12. In a locking mechanism for a pivoted door arranged to swing between two frame members extending transverse to the pivotal axis of the door, the combination with a shaft journaled in said members adjacent the free edge of the door to rotate about an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of the door, said shaft having a crank arm included therein located intermediate said members; of means on said door provided with a downwardly and outwardly sloping face adapted to cam the shaft away from the door during movement of the latter to closed position;'and means on the door arranged to rest upon the crank arm of the shaft when. the door is in fully closed position.

13. In a dump car having a side dump- 5 ing pivoted floor door, the combination with a shaft for supporting the door, said shaft being located below the floor level and sup ported from the cross members of the car underframe; of a hand operating lever se- 10 cured to said shaft and provided with a Witnesses:

UNA C. GRIGsBY, ANN BAKER. 

